The Complexity of Giftedness: Are All Gifted People High Achievers?

The assumption that gifted individuals are inherently high achievers is not always supported by evidence. While many gifted individuals do achieve remarkable success, a significant portion do not. This article explores various factors that contribute to the disparities among gifted people in terms of their professional and academic achievements.

The Misconception and Reality

The word lsquo;allrsquo; in the phrase lsquo;all gifted people are high achieversrsquo; is a misconception that often leads to the misrepresentation of what gifted individuals experience. Many gifted individuals do not excel in traditional academic settings because they get bored and may act out in class due to the lack of challenges.

Personal Accounts

For instance, my granddaughter was in a gifted program and consistently received top grades, the highest being an A. She is currently in graduate school, working on a PhD in artificial intelligence. On the other hand, I was driven to be a top performer, often reaching the top position in every company I worked for, but this was due to my personal ambition and personality type, not because of my giftedness itself. I have an alpha Machiavellian personality as identified by my psychologist.

Unlike me, many of my friends were also gifted, but their paths did not necessarily align with the path of high achievement. While some found contentment in middle management, others achieved the presidency of companies, showing that giftedness and high achievement are not necessarily correlated.

Other factors come into play as well. Some of my friends with low or average IQs were more motivated and succeeded more than expected due to proper challenges, continual learning, and motivation.

Challenges in Giftedness

Twenty percent of high school dropouts also test in the gifted range. These students often become disillusioned as they find traditional school curricula too easy and unresponsive to their need to learn and grow. Some become apathetic and lose motivation, while others are made to feel entitled, believing achieving success is a given. Another group may shy away due to fear of failure, worried that if they take risks, they may prove to others that their giftedness is a myth.

A final group consists of perfectionists who, only when they can perform tasks perfectly, are willing to complete them. Any deviation or mistake would prevent them from taking action.

Conclusion: The True Nature of Giftedness

The key takeaway is that the application and work of the gifted gift often determine the outcome. For example, I work in a store and have received some prestige as a night merchant and shareholder. However, being a member of Mensa, where members range from the homeless to those with multiple doctorates, shows that the true nature of giftedness does not guarantee high achievement.

I possess an innate ability to recall vast amounts of knowledge without studying, much like Einstein, though I am not a part of Mensa. I started an online trivia game in one week, dropping from the bottom 2000 to 1850, and then reaching the top 500. My trivia knowledge is vast and automatic, coming to me without effort. My pastor once noted that someone was reading from the Bible, which made me feel guilty as I rarely read it. I excel in trivia quizzes but have never done in-depth Bible study.

Instead, my strength lies in my ability to recall facts without effort. If I applied myself with more concerted effort, I could likely achieve even higher levels of success. The lesson here is that while natural talent is a gift, it requires application and ongoing effort to fully utilize that gift.